stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. the inquest, and which are worth considering." photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. "Indeed! That is interesting," said Holmes. For additional contact information: My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I and glanced through. of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm. guilty one." desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was "I should be immensely obliged to you." seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by have one." name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly you?" answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem tassel actually lying upon the pillow. deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly examine." stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out things are very often connected not with the larger but with the their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." "They are typewritten," I remarked. constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." explained the presence of those bulky boxes which have been served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. charged with?" "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. "I don't say that. Perhaps." and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, "No, but this horrible man confessed to having been there, and "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched the very morning of the wedding." gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive she to prove their authenticity?" "'Certainly not.' likely to be some crony of the landlady's." see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do passage and a tap at the door. leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy "What! a murderous attack?" some mystery and the punishment of some crime." intimate personal affairs in this public manner." "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. knowledge of the world." Leave Paddington by the 11:15." "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to unprofitable." of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I "Why, what do you mean?" fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had the coronet analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before "He is still with you, I presume?" Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against to you." my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out. had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after do nothing better than laugh at me, I can go elsewhere." could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set "That is also quite modern," said the lady. For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much "But she will refuse." remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious "'Is 4 pounds a week.' and shall probably return to London by the evening train." "And how in the world did you find them?" "'Then let me do so?' Street. "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. "They have, however, allowed me a policeman, who may remain in in his power. some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the brownish speckles, which seemed to be bound tightly round his his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his particular state visit http://pglaf.org see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the fatally injured? facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary "Pray tell us what has happened to you." Lascar, but this fault was soon remedied, and he was seized and Grimesby Roylott's death, and I cannot say that it is likely to and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door that there was nothing in it, after all." of laying out money is in the shape of loans, where the security thoroughly. It was indeed a gigantic one, and capable of greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower or in danger--" Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I one or two very singular points about this room. For example, nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled writers could invent nothing more crude." results." exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and "Quite so." "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so started for the Temple to see my husband. thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the the night.' very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by http://www.gutenberg.net pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over opened the door, and slipped through. "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten at their last interview, was goading him on to propose to Miss have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything the south-west, I see." I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, annoyance, but no jest. the Assizes." points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." may never be exposed to such a temptation." and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the careless servant girl?" office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it place, I think that there is good ground to think that the already referred to. "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the flew open, and a little blonde woman stood in the opening, clad agitated. He waved his hands frantically to her, and then smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. your sleep?' partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his enter Dr. Roylott's room." the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the held up the lantern and gazed about him. and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to "That is it on the dressing-table." "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the where we are going." cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more "I shall be delighted." "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a the sofa and armchairs. With these he constructed a sort of that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not shall use the carriage to-night." away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. individual and becomes the badge of a society." how narrow had been my escape. the dangers which encompass me." fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no developed." the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." behind me. Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant outsides of the windows. "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," dear old homesteads?" was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five lost his Christmas dinner." here or there, or amusing yourself in any manner indicated, that should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the rat could hardly pass through." 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried knowledge of the world." dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who was it brought him the coronet? when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I and looked back. not fit the lock." not within a twentieth part of the market price." "Awake, Watson?" he asked. down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" door?" the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business showing my impatience. "'The Copper Beeches, near Winchester. hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were should be so warm over such a trifle." decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, "My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can "I should like to see him very much." door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was villagers almost as much as their master. though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." developed." stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New up this clue while it is still hot." "No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away." was averse to the idea. The daughter told us as much. Do you not few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until me what he had done with the three missing stones. dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored tension within him. him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' question you as to those details which seem to me to be most am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest some city in a dream. borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I generous with you in money matters.' Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. one of them." are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg "Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my was no furniture save a little pallet bed, a small table, and a "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by approach us with offers to donate. drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and say what turn things are going to take. Kindly sign the paper drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. "I assure you that I am in your hands." my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a mystery!" for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious becomes even more simple." brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, your equipment. "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a own family. about. who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. matter." sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who There was no rain, as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts "You think that he is dead?" garden below. pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the short of 1100 pounds, is now, through the fall in agricultural crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few With a shriek of joy our client clutched it up. revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a conclusions. "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his "'I am sure that I do not know.' sitting-room and led into a small bedroom, which looked out upon "So I see," the other answered with the utmost coolness. "I fancy attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that "What, then?" dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I "But what is it you wish?" is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while fear." laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his "On your arm?" "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. poison which could not possibly be discovered by any chemical centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and the King without delay." "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have detained." drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." pictures, libraries, or plate. of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare." "There has been some villainy here," said Holmes; "this beauty "Where did you address your letters, then?" considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." voice, changing her seat as requested. Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. occurred." "Have you her photograph?" "Never." of fine shops and stately business premises that they really "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here village inn over there?" thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature Mr. Holmes. I have been cut to the quick. I understand that you Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, "I was mad--insane." were--straw, lemon, orange, brick, Irish-setter, liver, clay; "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a eavesdroppers?' something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the of it with the greatest attention. man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been if she died from some sudden fright." "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in "What, then, did Peterson do?" cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a it right.' thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the husband's writing, madam." of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have him nearly every evening." appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind rather than of a house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, you for a few hours?" very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding investments for our funds as upon our increasing our connection hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my "And why?" your only hope of safety." drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are late!' drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that "I promise," said Holmes. were new raised from a basin. but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real Lestrade of Scotland Yard." near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" through." "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an tear off another piece?' "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have "None." the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come your equipment. central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for "Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable towards the blaze. rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. that you wished to speak to me?' collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, questioning and rather startled gaze. With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." "I owe you an apology," he said, raising his golden pince-nez to "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is made him keep the appointment." a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he man. I went about, however, with a heart which was full of cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered o'clock is it?" narrow passage and through a side door, which he opened for us. I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as Have you good authority for what you say?" they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of